


Clipped Wings

by Ransomedbard



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: 2+H - Freeform, Adventure, Crime doesn't actually pay, Criminal!Hilde, Gen, Kidnapping, Preventer!Duo, mild violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-01-25 18:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21360976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ransomedbard/pseuds/Ransomedbard
Summary: Time has a funny way of turning history on its head. Two years after the Eve Wars, former rebel Duo Maxwell is now a member of the secretive anti-terrorism unit Preventers, while Hilde has been living on the wrong side of the law on Earth.  When he makes a visit to attempt to salvage their strained friendship, he’ll uncover just how much their paths have diverged, and end up getting caught up in her life on the run from a gang that wants revenge.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Duo paced back and forth on the sidewalk outside the spaceport in the stifling heat of an August afternoon. Shading his eyes from the glare, he kept watch for a cab, and thus was surprised when a blue coupe slowed and pulled over in front of him. When the tinted window rolled down, Hilde was smiling at him from the driver’s seat.

“This,” he said, arms spread wide to encompass the entire car. “What is this? You don’t have a license.”

“Sure I do,” she said, plucking it from the sun visor and handing it to him with a cat-caught-the-canary grin. “Made it myself.”

He dealt with enough forged IDs in his line of work that he knew what to look for, and this one was decent; quite good, actually, down to the color-changing ink and holographic seal. His anger rose at the thought of how much time and effort she must have spent creating this counterfeit instead of earning a real one. That was her way now - working twice as hard just to prove she could outsmart or trick her way to what she wanted - and it infuriated him.

He threw it back through the open window with disgust, then leaned his head in to deliver his rejoinder in an outraged whisper. “You have got to knock this crap _off_, alright? The wars are good and gone a whole two years now, and there’s no more blanket amnesty, no more letting things slide, former ‘oppressed colonist’ or no. That bridge is burnt and I’m sorry you’ve had trouble adapting, but life is not the game you seem to think it is. Do you realize what position you’re putting me in? I’m a sworn officer of the law, Hil!”

Her face fluctuated between hurt and annoyed and settled on the latter. “Do we have to start this right now, Duo? I have been here all of two minutes and I haven’t even gotten a ‘hello’ yet.” 

They glared at each other for a moment in silence, until she relented.

“My bad about the license, okay? I should have realized you wouldn’t...appreciate it. But it’s no reason to get all riled up. Don’t be making me out to be some big-time criminal like the ones you’ve gone sour dealing with. I won’t lie, I like to keep life interesting, and I do a little grey work on the side when I need to - but it’s penny-ante stuff.” She swallowed. “I’m not stupid. I know screwed up and I can’t undo the past. But I’m here now. I am trying. And we both agreed this time we weren't going to argue.”

She reached over and swung the passenger door open. “You came all this way. At least let me take you to dinner, and in return I promise I won’t make any more incriminating statements?”

The frown had faded from his face, replaced by a certain wistfulness. “Yeah, alright. But you better drive like a grandma on Sunday. And I’m payin’ for dinner.”

“Ha! Be my guest.”

He got in and closed the door, then spent a moment looking around as his eyes adjusted to the dark interior. He didn’t know much about cars, but it was sleek and polished, and the seats were a rich black leather which looked old but well cared for. In a word, it was _nice_. Far too nice for someone that was just scraping to get by like he knew she was.

“Hilde, where did you get this car?”

Her grin was back to canary-imperiling proportions as she shifted into gear. “Now now, I just promised no more incriminating statements, didn’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to @incorrectgundamwingquotes on Tumblr, who made a post that inspired this story.  
This first chapter was what I originally wrote in response, so it's on the short side.


	2. Chapter 2

Their server cleared away the last of their plates and topped off Hilde’s coffee, then turned to Duo. “Would you like a refill for your drink, sir? No? Then I’ll just leave this here for whenever you’re ready.” He placed the check on the table and left.

Hilde wrapped both hands around her coffee cup to soak up the warmth. “Thanks for dinner. I hope it wasn’t too much.”

Duo barely glanced at the bill before laying it aside. “Nah, it’s fine. It’s your favorite place, right? I’m happy to treat.”

They sank back into silence. Hilde had been cheerful and upbeat on the way to the restaurant, peppering him with questions about what had happened since his visit last year - his move to L1, the three teeth he’d had replaced after he was injured during a mission, what Howard and various members of the Sweepers they both knew were up to. But as they drove, Hilde’s chipper attitude had faded, and she had seemed increasingly distracted. Duo had spent the last ten minutes of the drive looking out the window. During their meal, the conversation had continued to be patchy and awkward; Duo found she would evade or deflect on any subject that touched on her life.

They were seated in a window booth with a clear view of the car, which Hilde had parked on the curb across the street. Throughout the meal her eyes slipped back time and time again to check on it. She was watching it now, as the last of the orange and red sunset faded into the deep blue-black of the nighttime desert sky. 

Hilde fiddled with her cloth napkin, rolling it up and flattening it out again, while Duo leaned on one shoulder and watched her while finishing the dregs of his drink. “So what do you get up to nowadays? Any hobbies?”

Hilde shrugged. “None to speak of.”

“Made any friends around here?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Any boyfriends?”

“No.”

“Girlfriends?”

“No.”

“Any —“

“Duo!”

“I was going to say, any pets?”

“Oh. Well, sort of.” She left the napkin alone and let her eyes drift over the table. “I had a bird for a while. It wasn’t really mine - my neighbors in the complex got evicted and left it behind. When I realized they weren’t coming back for it, I took it in. It was some kind of dove, I’m almost sure of that, because it made that cooing sound like in the movies.”

“That sounds... nice?” Duo hazarded.

“Not really. I mean - it wasn’t the bird’s fault. I didn’t do a very good job of taking care of it. I feel guilty about that. I didn’t have the money to take it to a vet, but I could have done more to learn what it needed. Instead, I just gave it the food they left behind, and cleaned the cage it came in. I hated how small that cage was - it seemed so cruel. And I don’t think it like me, either; it always fled from my touch.”

“But the worst part of it was that it would sometimes just start making a sound halfway between laughing and crying - an eerie sound, like a little child sobbing their heart out - monotonously, going on and on, day or night. It made me feel awful, like I was torturing it or something; and to be honest I just couldn’t take hearing that anymore. So, one day I pulled it out of the cage, hid it in my backpack and took it on the bus out to the lake to let it go.”

Duo frowned. “Captive pets like that can’t always survive in the wild…”

Hilde grit her teeth. “You’re always criticizing me, do you realize that?”

“But you’re right. It couldn't fly. When I let it out of my bag, it tried as soon as it was free, flapping as hard as it could, frantically. But it never got off the ground. Then when it realized it couldn’t fly, it darted off. I ran after it, but it disappeared into the bushes and scrub. I could hear it crying in there.” She picked up the napkin again and wrung it in her hands. “I cut my arms up trying to dig through to get it out, but every time I got close it would go deeper under cover. It was the weekend and the buses stopped running early, so I had to give up and leave it there.”

She shook her head. “I found out later what had happened. Some owners cut the tips of the big feathers off of each wing. The feathers are still there, so the bird doesn’t know what it’s lost - but they don’t have enough lift to get off the ground. They call it ‘clipping their wings.’” 

There was a rueful smile on her face, but her eyes were very bitter. “When I learned that, I thought what a perfect metaphor it was for my life. They clipped my wings, and now I can’t fly.”

Duo’s expression softened. “It won’t last forever.” 

“It feels like it already has.”

“It’s been what, eighteen months?”

“Nineteen, yeah.” 

Nearly two years ago - a few months after the end of the Eve Wars - Hilde had been hired as a cargo pilot for the ESUN branch that was responsible for decommissioning and breaking down what was left of _Libra_. While the work was monotonous, it was a position with decent pay and prospects for the future - there were many former military outposts in space that would need to be removed. But she had thrown it all away by aiding a ring of thieves who were diverting some of the recovered parts from the damaged battleship and reselling them on the black market. An informant went to the police, and a sting operation took place that captured a dozen dock workers, pilots, and engineers that were in on the scheme. Hilde was caught red-handed with the contraband in her cargo hold as she came into port to make her delivery.

She was arrested on the spot and taken to Earth for trial, where she plead guilty. Despite the gravity of the charges against her, the stars seemed to have aligned in her favor. First, she was young - barely old enough to be charged as an adult on Earth. Second, the government was in a state of flux, and decades of harsh laws were being rewritten. And most importantly, the judiciary were under tremendous political pressure to err on the side of mercy in cases involving colonials, to show the new regime’s break from the old. 

When her case finally wound its way to court, the judge sentenced her to only the time she had already served waiting in jail. But in addition to revoking her pilot’s license, the judge threw in a stipulation that would alter the course of Hilde’s life. In light of the nature of her crime and the trust she had abused, she was banned from the entire industry of space flight for five years. To ensure the effectiveness of the punishment, she was forbidden from even entering any spaceport or dock. For Hilde, a proud colonist who before her arrest had never set foot on the planet she was now trapped on, it meant being ripped away from everything that she knew. 

“I never understood why you did it.”

She sighed. “I told you. It was for Francis. He’d done a lot for me in the past, and he told me he needed help.”

“He might have needed help, but nobody needs help stealing.”

Hilde replied with a cool stare. “Oh? I helped  _ you _ steal plenty.”

Duo closed his eyes. He hated to be reminded of the fact that he had been the one that first taught her the skills of a thief: how to case a building, pick a lock, and a few other tricks of the trade. At the time, he’d needed her help to obtain parts and fuel for his Gundam, and he had no qualms about sharing a little of his knowledge and worldview with her - he’d even been proud to see her ‘wise up’ from what he considered at the time to be a dangerous naïveté. She’d proven to be a fast learner on all accounts, much to his present dismay. 

“We were fighting a war and stealing from our enemies. The rules were different.” There was a finality to his tone that warned her not to take it any further, and she relented.

Hilde turned her face away from him. “What can I say to make you understand? They were just parts that were going to get scrapped anyway. Wasn’t it better for them to put some money in the hands of colonists, the people OZ manipulated and stole from to build the damn thing in the first place, instead of some politically-connected Earth company?”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“Right or wrong, I promised him, Duo. And I don’t break promises.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “But you lie.”

“I never said I didn’t lie. I do it all the time and so do you. But a promise is different. A promise really means something.” 

Something in her tone was more frank and honest that anything else she had said that night, and he seized on it.

“Then promise me that you won’t —-”

Hilde held up a hand to stop him.

“Don’t. I can’t. I can’t just change myself like that. Not for anyone.”

“I’m sorry,” she added, and she looked like she really meant it. 

Duo lowered his voice, pleading a little. “What happened, Hil? The judge gave you a slap on the wrist and left you with a clean record. It shouldn’t have stopped you from getting a job, living by honest means. Why are you getting all mixed up with stuff like that?” He gestured out the window at the coupe.

At his words she stiffened up and looked miserable. “Does there have to be a reason? Breaking the law is easier.”

“It clearly is not. How long did it take you to make that fake license? How much did you spend? Versus just taking the damned test?”

“That was...different. And I thought we agreed we weren’t going to talk about this.”

He wouldn’t let it go. “I’m not asking what you’ve done, but why you’re doing it. Are you mad at society? Are you punishing yourself?”

“I don’t know, I don’t sit around psychoanalyzing myself!” Hilde’s outburst was loud enough that the people at another table turned around to look at her. She took a breath and continued with quiet vehemence.

“Maybe I just like it, okay? Maybe I get a kick out of pulling the wool over everybody’s eyes. Maybe I’m just an objectively bad person. Have you ever considered that?”

Duo’s tone was petulant. “No.”

“If anything, shouldn’t I be asking what happened to _you_? What happened to the cynic who always said ‘power corrupts’ and that the police were ‘just a smarter gang than the rest’? Why are you so hell-bent on kowtowing to their rules now?”

There was the briefest of pauses as he picked out his words, speaking slowly and with heartfelt sincerity. “I grew up, Hilde. I started living like I wasn’t going to die the next day. Started thinkin’ about what kind of world I wanted to live in, and how I could help it get there.”

She scoffed. “Unbelievable. You aren’t just playing the part, are you? You’ve really bought into the whole ‘Law-and-Order’ deal.” 

A flicker of amusement crossed Duo’s face before he gave her an earnest look. “It’s not like I never break the rules, or that I think the new government is perfect - far from it. But I believe the way to make things better is from working with the system, not writing it off before it even has a chance.”

“I can’t believe you of all people would fall for—”

She stopped mid-sentence as she glanced out the window and her eyes widened with fear. Across the street, a Sheriff’s patrol car had pulled over behind her coupe.

Hilde sat bolt upright, then started to lunge out of her seat toward the back exit. Duo’s hand shot out across the table and grabbed her arm above the elbow. 

“Let go!” she hissed.

Duos face remained eerily placid as he spoke in a flat tone. “They can see us. Sit down. Don’t act guilty.”

Two officers got out of the car. One pointed directly at them, and they both began to cross the street quickly to the restaurant.

Hilde threw her weight into trying to get free, but she couldn’t break Duo’s grip. Within seconds, the sheriff and his deputy were pushing through the double entrance doors. 

“Pretty sure they know it’s yours,” he said quietly as he released her and pulled his arm back. “Don’t deny it.” Stunned, she made one last furtive look at the back exit, then sat down. 

The officers made a beeline for their table and stood side by side, blocking exit from the booth. The sheriff, a heavyset man with a sprinkling of salt and pepper in his short hair looked them over.

“Is one of you the driver of that blue coupe? It’s been reported as stolen.”

Hilde’s face was awash with nervous confusion. “Stolen? That’s not true, sir, I bought it less than a week ago!”

“You got the title?”

“I ah, I’m still waiting for him to put the paperwork through. It was a handshake deal.”

“A handshake for a nice car like that, hundreds of kilometers away from where it’s registered, huh?” The sheriff looked unconvinced. “I’m going to need to see some ID. From both of you.”

They each opened their wallets and handed their licenses over. The sheriff scrutinized them for several seconds, then handed them off to his deputy. “Go out to the car and run these.”

Duo spoke up. “Hers won’t run, sir - it’s a forgery.”

Hilde went from flushed to pale in an instant. 

The sheriff focused on Duo. “What’s that?”

Duo extended another ID, this one prominently bearing the logo of the ESUN. “I’m Detective Maxwell, and she’s an informant I’m working with on a case.”

The Sheriff barked a little laugh as he looked Duo over. “You’re a detective, kid? At-” he glanced down at the license in his hand - “seventeen?”

“They start us young in the colonies, sir.”

The sheriff rolled his eyes. “All right Emilio, you heard the man - run this too.” He tossed the card to his deputy and then turned his back to their table. “This will take a minute - stay right there.” He strode over to the far side of the restaurant, engaging the waiter in Spanish.  


Hilde gave Duo an intense look as she braced herself to push off from the booth and make another attempt to run, but he flicked his eyes out to the sheriff's car across the street and gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head. The deputy stood facing them outside his car, with the handheld radio extended to the end of its cord through the window. He was clearly watching their every move.

When the sheriff returned, drink in hand rattling with ice, he pulled up a chair and sat down at the end of their booth facing Duo. His tone was openly mocking and disrespectful. “Just what division are you from, Detective?”

“Inter-Regional Investigations.”

“That’s mostly commerce regulations, isn’t it? And she’s helping you locate what, exactly? Overloaded semis?”

“I wouldn’t want to compromise the investigation by discussing the details in public.”

The sheriff smiled a shark-like grin. “Well I can offer you both a nice private ride back to the Sheriff's office in the back of my car—“

The door clattered as the deputy returned with their cards and a bemused expression on his face. “Boss, the LEO ID checks out. He’s a detective with Inter-Regional, Southern Hemisphere/Western Division.”

The sheriff looked like he had just swallowed a lemon. “And her?”

“Nothing in the system. It’s a fake.”

The sheriff gruffly handed Duo back his IDs, his voice having lost none of its derisive tone. “Sorry for the trouble, _Detective_.”

Duo smiled pleasantly. “Not at all. Just doing your job.”

“And does your ‘investigation’ preclude me taking Miss...” he looked at her card and stumbled over the unfamiliar last name - “Schbeiker in at this time?”

Duo looked him straight in the eye. “I’m afraid it does.” 

The larger man put his hand down on the table and leaned over Duo. “I’m not accustomed to letting a suspect in a felony case just walk away. When will you be able to bring her in?”

Duo didn’t move a centimeter or lose his calm smile. “Hard to say; you know how unpredictable these things are. But I promise you, she will come in for the charge.”

“You better do it soon, because if not there’ll be a warrant.” The sheriff eased back off the table. “Does the vehicle factor into your investigation as well, _Detective_?”

“No,” Duo said with unflagging politeness, turning to Hilde. “Give them the keys?”

She took them out of her jacket and worked the car key off her fob, then paused. “If I could just get my things out of it before you —“

The deputy stepped forward and held out his palm as the sheriff stood up. “Anything in the vehicle at this point needs to be entered into evidence.”

“But I just need a few things —“ she protested as the deputy took the key.

The sheriff nodded at Hilde with a tight smile. “Emilio here will be glad to go over your claim with you - when you come in to be booked.” He spent another long moment staring down at them both with an intimidating glare before he took a step back.

“Well, good luck with your investigation,” he drawled as he dragged the chair back to a table and strode toward the exit. As he opened the door, he turned his head and flashed them a smug smile. “Be seeing you - _soon_.” 

Duo and Hilde watched in silence as the two men crossed the street and drove away, the sheriff in his patrol car and his deputy in the coupe.

When they were gone Duo let out a groan and pitched forward, momentarily resting his head on the table. “God, I hate dealing with blowhards like that.” He looked up at Hilde with a bemused expression. “But what you did at the end, there, that was good. He’s thinking he got the upper hand and denied you something you need. That could come in handy later.”

Hilde looked as if she only half understood what he was saying. “What? What are you talking about?” As the shock of it all wore off, she rounded on him with rising anger. “Forget that - why the hell did you stop me from leaving before they got in here?”

Duo’s attitude switched instantly to exasperation. “Yeah, and good thing I did, too. How was it going to go down if you ran, huh? They clearly had a bead on you, and there was no way for you to make it past them back to the car —“

“I could’ve stolen another one!”

Duo held his palm out. “Stop! I did what was best—“

“What was best for _you_! You just cared about being caught with a criminal!”

Duo was outraged. “I cared about what was best for  _ both _ of us. I didn’t come out of this clean! You may remember that they called in my “Detective” ID? Only supposed to use that one for emergencies, ‘cause that triggers some… stuff.” He petered out, looking chagrined. 

“Oh.” Hilde was still hot with anger, but her tone became slightly contrite. “Are you going to get in trouble for that?”

“Oooh yeah.” He grinned. “But don’t worry, if they keep diggin’ they’ll get the run around from my HQ long enough to keep them tied up all night.”

His smile faded. “Speaking of IDs, why would you give them a fake ID? And one with your  _ real name _ on it?”

Hilde blushed and looked down. “It was the only one I had on me. I’m not always running under an alias.” She shrugged. “Besides, whenever I’ve used it before, people just looked at it to see if it was legit. Fooled everybody so far. How was I supposed to know they would call it in to some database to see if it was real.”

Duo was exasperated again. “That’s what cops  _ do _ , Hil. They can’t just trust people.” He tilted his head. “You haven’t been caught before, have you?”

She shook her head. “Not by the cops. Like I told you, I’ve been careful, covered my tracks, and don’t get mixed up in things that draw attention. Until now.”

Hilde rubbed the spot on her arm where Duo had grabbed her, and her temper flared up again.

“And let me make one thing clear - if you  ** _ever_ ** grab me like that or stop me from leaving again, this friendship is over for good. Do you understand me?”

“I had to—“

“No. You had no right!”

Duo’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right, you’re right. I was wrong to do it. Sorry.”

Hilde crossed her arms. “Good. So we’re clear about that. And none of that crap about ‘turning myself in’, either.”

He shook his head. “No, that you still need to do.”

“The hell I do! What is it with you? Are you my friend or not?”

“Of course I am. And I’m a Prev—,” he caught himself - “an officer, both. You can’t cut me in half, Hilde.”

Hilde growled in frustration and threw her napkin across the table.

“Hey, hey,” Duo mollified, palms up in the air. “I’m sorry about how terrible tonight is going. Lemme go pay the bill, then I’ll find a payphone and call a taxi, ok?”

Hilde laid her hands on the table and avoided his eyes. “No, it’s fine.”

Duo looked at her quizzically. “How are you planning to get back home?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s too far to walk, isn’t it?”

Hilde’s face whipped up to look at him suspiciously. “Why would you say that?”

“Well,” he replied as he ticked off his fingers, “You drove like you weren’t familiar with the area. As soon as we walked in, you scoped out the exits. You had to look at the menu before you ordered, and the waiter didn’t react to you at all.” He looked up at her. “I don’t think this is really your ‘favorite place’,” making air quotes with his fingers. “But I don’t understand why you told me it was. Did you take me here because it wasn’t near your home? So we wouldn’t run into anyone that knew you? Or was there something else you didn’t want me to see?”

Hilde’s face twisted into a smirk and started a laugh that quickly turned into a whimper. Her voice quavered. “Are you that suspicious of me?”

Duo scooted around the bend of the booth to sit next to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “No, I’m just worried. And I gotta be honest, I was even before the Sheriff got here. That car, this restaurant - they’re not really ‘you’. This whole time you’ve seemed off and edgy, and I’m guessing it’s because of me, and that’s hard to swallow. I know we have our own ways of seein’ things, and I’ll just out and say it - I didn’t realize how much you’ve been… you know… getting into trouble. And clearly you didn’t want me to know. So learnin’ this all so fast it’s - it’s killin’ me a little on the inside, but that’s because I care about you. I’m scared for you.”

“But I didn’t come here to judge you. And you don’t have to front for me. You know what I’ve done to get by. I’ve eaten out of dumpsters and slept in doorways. I know what it’s like to have your pride and nothing else. So it’s ok to ask me for help. And I think you probably need some help right now, right?”

Hilde nodded, tears streaming down her face. “I feel like such an ass,” she said in a whisper, her voice cracking. “I don’t have a place to stay and I didn’t want you to know. I’ve been living out of that car. And it had the last of my things in it…” 

She reached out for a hug and he wrapped an arm around her. “Oh, Hil. Why didn’t you tell me?” He patted her back for a moment and added gently, “I would have found out anyway. Did you forget you were supposed to put me up for the night?”

Hilde let go and fumbled with the edge of her sleeve to wipe away her tears. “I was planning to fight with you tonight so you’d get a hotel.”

Duo grinned. “That’s… kind of a jerk move, Hil.”

She smiled back. “I know.” 

He patted her hand. “Ok, let’s make a plan. We can figure this out together. I’ll get you a hotel for a couple of days, and we’ll find a lawyer tomorrow who can work through the auto charge—“

Hilde objected. “Duo, no…”

At that moment, the back door slammed open at the same time as someone yelled “Hands up! Now!” Five people entered swiftly, guns drawn. They each wore a half mask that covered them from forehead to cheek. Some of the masks were painted in checkerboard patterns in metallic hues, while others were simple molded plastic in the shape of an animal’s face. 

Three of them made their way to Hilde and Duo’s table while the other two held the terrified wait staff and customers at gunpoint. 

The lion-masked gunman stepped forward and put one foot up on the seat to loom over Hilde, leveling his gun at her chest. “Having a bad night, are we, ‘Shade’?”


	3. Chapter 3

The room their captors had locked them in was long and narrow, with walls of unpainted concrete brick. The only source of light was the gap between the bottom of the door and the cement floor. In the extreme dim, they had explored the space and found nothing but a few mismatched chairs, wooden crates, and a foul-smelling bucket. The large, metal door had no handle on the inside and was locked tight.

When they had exhausted their options, they both stopped and rested near the door, where the air was a little fresher. 

Duo leaned against the wall and stretched out his legs. 

"I have questions." 

Hilde grunted. "Pick one." 

"Mmmm, ok. Why were you living out of your car?" 

"That’s what you picked? Not ‘Who are these guys and why are they so pissed?’ Not ‘Why did they call you Shade?’" 

Duo pulled the collar of his jacket up over his cheek so he could rest his head against the cold wall more comfortably. "You can answer those, too; I think we got time." 

Hilde laughed mirthlessly. "Fair enough. I got called ‘Shade’ by a landlord that couldn’t pronounce my last name. She really tried, but the closest she could get was ‘Shade-ebber’, so I told her to just stick with ‘Shade’. I thought it was kinda cute and catchy, so I started using it as a nickname for my work." 

"As for the gang and my living out of a car, that’s all one story." She dragged a wooden chair over and spun it around backwards, then slumped down on it facing him. 

"I first met them five weeks ago, although I’d heard of them long before that. They call themselves ‘Los Fantasmas’ - the Phantoms. They always wear those masks when they’re doing a job or a deal; I’m not sure if it’s an intimidation thing or a way to hide their identity." 

"Generally I steer clear of anything to do with gangs; they’re too obvious and confrontational with the police, and too dangerous. But one of my regular clients contacted me on their behalf and convinced me to set up a meeting. They wanted me to make certificates of authenticity for some stolen art and jewelry they wanted to flip - and it was a large lot, several dozen items." 

"On the face of it, it wasn’t an especially hard job - there’s no holographic seals or other fancy anti-counterfeiting measures on those certificates, so creating them wasn’t a problem. But the stolen items had come from a private collection and had no documentation, so what was I going to put down on my forgeries? I’m no art historian - how do I know what artistic period some vase is from, right?" 

"I almost walked away. In hindsight, I should have - it was a red flag they were out of their league. But they said they’d find someone knowledgeable to write the copy… and they were offering me a lot of money. So I accepted and dove right into doing my research." 

Hilde crossed her arms over the back of the chair and rested her chin on them. "I know you’ll hate me saying it, but there’s a beauty in making a convincing fake. The paper alone - I never knew there were so many kinds. Up in the colonies all the paper was thin and recycled over and over until it broke down, since it was expensive to ship from Earth. But here they have so many trees they can do whatever they want - thick, glossy, even with cotton or other fibers mixed in. You have to get the right kind, and it has to look the right age… well, anyway. I love that part of making forgeries - the details. And some of the jobs I did were even good - I mean morally. Making fake documents for someone leaving an abusive situation, you know? And one time I made certificates that said imitation ivory carvings were real - so I saved an elephant, right?" She gave him a roguish smile. 

Duo wasn’t amused. "So you ‘helped’ a couple of desperate people in between making forgeries for scammers and con artists?" 

Her response was terse. "Yeah, that’s right, I helped them rip people off. And I got ripped off a couple of times myself. Way of the world." When he didn’t respond, she went on. 

"So this job, I really had to use everything I knew to pull it off. I worked three weeks flat out because they had a deadline, and when it was all done, the results were beautiful. When I met them to turn over the papers I was more than a little afraid they’d double-cross me, but it was all very professional - I even met their leader and he was very pleased. They paid me everything promised, in cash, fair and square. Did I mention it was a lot of money?" 

Her voice was warm with reminiscence. "I had _fun_ on that money. I didn’t go crazy but I lived it up for a few days, got myself some nice things - new laptop, clothes, jewelry, that kind of thing. And I started planning my next move since I never stayed anywhere too long. All to say, a week after I got paid I’d already spent a lot of it." 

Hilde took a deep breath. "Now don’t get too riled up about this next part, ok?" Duo gave her a quizzical frown, but nodded. 

"About...six days ago? But it feels like longer - four or five of them came and broke into my apartment. It was the middle of the night and it all went down so fast I couldn’t get out the window before they had blocked it. They told me the deal to sell the art had gone bad; the buyer was working with the cops and wearing a wire, and their fence had been caught and arrested. They were blaming me, saying my counterfeit certificates weren’t good enough and tipped them off. Then they told me that their boss wanted his money back." 

"I was terrified. They had me trapped. What else could I do? I gave them all the money I had. I didn’t hold out." Hilde scoffed. "I guess I can’t blame them for not believing me. They started pulling the drawers out of my desk and dresser, dumping it all out on the floor, yelling at me to tell them where I was hiding the cash. But there wasn’t any more money to find. So they began to destroy my stuff, and once they got started they didn’t stop." 

She let go of the chair and held on to her own shoulders, looking small and defeated. "It didn’t even make sense at that point; my new laptop was worth a lot but they destroyed it. They tore my place apart, wrecked it floor to ceiling; smashed the mirrors, broke my desk and bookcases, stabbed a knife through my clothes. All I could do was crouch in the corner, cowering, and watch as I lost everything I owned. I felt so weak and helpless." 

When Hilde looked up, the dim light seeping under the door cast strange highlights and shadows across Duo’s face, and for a moment all she could make out were his eyes, shining in the dark. Those eyes were fixed on her, as if he were trying to pull some sort of information out of her. 

"But you’re ok? They didn’t hurt you?" 

"No. No, I’m ok," she shook her head, and dropped her hands into her lap. "When they finally stopped they told me I should be grateful that I was getting off with just a warning, that if I ever crossed them again I wouldn’t live to regret it. When they left the damn door wouldn’t even shut right anymore." 

Hilde’s hands were shaking. "I’m not naïve. I know life doesn’t make any sense, that it’s never going to be fair. But there’s some stupid part of me that still hurts every time I hit that harsh reality. And it was just so wrong, so humiliating, having to pick on my hands and knees through the wreckage, finding bits and pieces of things I had loved...I think I snapped." 

"I found clothes that were in good enough shape to wear and packed whatever else I could salvage into a bag. Then I walked to the 24 hour pawn shop and got a little cash for the earrings I had on. I spent it all for a cab to drop me close to the place I had met the gang to deliver the papers: a run-down warehouse where they processed stolen cars - a chop shop. It was still dark and I saw that the place was deserted, so I picked my way into the office and looked around." 

"It was pretty organized - logbooks of what was coming in and out, nicely sorted keys hanging up on a pegboard and everything. I was looking for money, but after searching in all the usual spots I came up empty. Then I spotted one set of keys off to the side with a note reading ‘DON’T TOUCH! Boss only!’ and a date a week or so in the future." 

"Well that sounded like sweet revenge to me, so I grabbed them and went out to find the car. My luck was still with me; it was on the perimeter, facing the fence and boxed in by other cars. So I cut a hole in the chain-link fence with a pair of their bolt cutters, put the coupe in neutral and pushed it through as quietly as I could. I took it halfway down the block before I fired it up and peeled the hell out of there." 

Duo’s laugh was sharp and shot through with tension. "Oh, my God, Hilde!" 

She smiled. "Yeah, I am an idiot. I threw a rock at a bee’s nest. It felt really good, though." 

"After that I just beat it out of that town; there was nothing left to go back for. Fortunately it had a full tank of gas. I already had made plans to meet with you here, so I figured I could sell the coupe along the way and get some cash and some old clunker to drive." She hit her thigh lightly with a closed fist. "Except it turns out that selling a stolen car is a lot harder than I realized. _Nobody_ wanted it, not even for scrap prices. And I couldn’t afford to abandon it. So I kept pawning what little I had left in order to eat while trying to find a buyer and stay one step ahead of the cops." 

Duo shook his head incredulously. "And with all that going on, you still came to pick me up." 

"Well yeah, of course. I wasn’t going to ditch you after you came all this way." 

"Because it was a promise?" 

Hilde rolled her eyes. "No, doofus, because I wanted to see you." She looked down. "I missed you." 

Duo smiled back at her. "I missed you too." After a moment, he added, "I was surprised when I got your message with the invitation to come visit. You’ve been pretty hard to get a hold of." 

Hilde turned her face to the wall. "Yeah, well…" she gave up trying to explain with a little shrug. 

"I still don’t understand why you weren’t going to tell me about any of this. Just have me fly in, visit and pretend that everything is okay, then after I leave you’d be back on the run? That was your plan?" 

She rested her forehead against the wall, looking down. "I guess you could call it a plan. It’s been hard to catch more than a few hours of sleep, and coffee can only do so much, so I’m probably not making the best choices. But what else could I do?" 

"You could’a told me what the hell was going on, for starters. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong." 

Hilde rolled her head over to one side so she could see him. "I can take care of my own problems. I got myself into trouble, so I have to get myself out." The edges of her mouth pulled down. "Besides, you’re a cop, shouldn’t you be telling me I have to live with the consequences?" 

"I’m your _friend_. Would you kindly stop throwing my job back in my face?" He sighed and tried again. "Hilde, everybody gets in over their head sometimes. I sure have. I even seem to recall you came to my rescue once or twice." 

Hilde’s face flickered with surprise. "Ha. Yeah, I guess I did, didn’t I?" After a moment, her smile faded. "But you were doing the right things for the right reasons. Not me. You said it yourself, I’m not doing any good in the world; I help people rip other people off." She shook her head. "You’re out there doing something real and I… the last thing I wanted to do was to get you involved when it all finally caught up with me." 

She gripped the back of the chair so hard that her knuckles turned white. "I never learned to stay down when I’m beat. I just had to hit them back, and now they’re probably going to kill you, too." 

"Let’s not write ourselves off yet. You got anything else on these guys?" 

Hilde let go of the chair and ran her fingers through her hair. "Not really. Rumor is they do a lot of mob-type stuff - rackets, smuggling, doing other people’s dirty work. But we’re hundreds of kilometers away from where I thought they were based. I don’t even know how they found me." 

Duo suddenly held up a hand, and she stopped to listen, heard the scrape of boots on concrete rapidly approaching. She stood up and he scrambled to her side. 

The heavy door swung open to reveal the same masked gang members that had kidnapped them. Three of them had their guns drawn. 

"The boss got here faster than expected," said the Lion mask. "Don’t make us late." 

Hilde and Duo didn’t give any resistance as they were quickly blindfolded and had their hands tied behind their backs. They were led out of the storage room on a brisk walk, a hand on their shoulder on either side. They made several turns until they entered what sounded like a large, open room, where they were told to kneel. They waited there for a minute while the sound of a new pair of footsteps made its way ever closer, finally stopping a few feet in front of Hilde. 

The voice of their leader was confident, his words delivered with a gloating disdain. "Here’s our odd little couple, the thief and the cop. Bad enough that you stole from me, now you’re singing to the police? Oh, I hate rats like you." 

His flat-bottomed shoes made a light scuffing sound as he squatted down in front of her. 

"Did you really think you could flip a car you took from _me_? I run the largest chop shop in the county, girl. Everyone that deals in hot cars within a 300 kilometer radius knows me. I didn’t have much hope when I told them to be on the lookout, but then I got word from one, and then another, until it was clear you were working your way down here." His voice colored with malicious amusement. "Do you know, you even tried to sell my car back to the man that stole it for me in the first place?" 

His shoes scuffed again as he stood and began to pace back and forth in front of them. 

"I would have found you even if you weren’t stupid enough to get caught by the sheriff." He paused, perhaps looking Hilde over for a reaction. "Oh yes, I know about that too. There’s a marvelous thing called police band radio. If you can get your hands on one, you can hear all their little secrets. Including reports about impounding _my_ car." His voice grew cold. "Now the cops have it, and I’m going to have to tell the buyer that I can’t deliver what I promised. They will be very disappointed." 

A kick came from nowhere and caught Hilde on the side of her ribs. Unable to move her arms to break her fall, she landed hard on the side of her face. The blow set her ear ringing, and a trickle of blood from her scraped cheek ran down the side of her neck. Hands from behind pulled her up to a kneeling position again. 

"You’ve caused me enough trouble, Shade. But I always give people a last chance. So think hard, and tell me: what can you do for me?" 

Her voice was flat and bereft of hope. "What do you want me to do?" 

"You tell me, Shade. It needs to quick, no runaround or games. What can you do for me, deliver to me, tonight? You stole my car - what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?" 

Hilde turned her blindfolded head from side to side, as if searching for some means of escape. When she answered her voice was dry. "I can pick locks, get your men in plenty of places nice and quiet. If we only hit little stores with no cameras or alarms, we can get in and out without any trouble from the police." 

The boss didn’t sound happy. "You want me to settle for a night’s pickings from knocking over chump change places? Don’t insult me." 

Duo spoke up. "It’s a good plan." 

The boss turned. "As if I would listen to advice from a _cop_ —" 

"I’m not a cop." 

Another voice spoke. "Don’t try to lie. We heard the sheriff call you in." 

Duo turned his head toward where he had last heard the boss speak. "C’mon, look at me. Do I look like any cop you’ve ever seen? No. But I made them _think_ I’m a cop." 

There was a pause, and then the leader spoke. "Explain." 

"It’s simple. The LEOs have a special phone book of their own, with the unlisted numbers of other departments and regions in it. But phone numbers get changed sometimes. Me and some friends got a hold of one of the old numbers and set ourselves up with IDs that say we’re from that department. Now if anyone calls to verify, one of my guys will answer and convince ‘em the ID is real." 

"It only works if they haven’t updated their phonebook, but you know the government isn’t handing them out for free - it’s expensive to buy one every year, so a lotta places get by with an old copy. In a run-down town like this? Figured it would work, and it did." 

The leader’s voice rang with the satisfaction of that ‘aha’ moment when a magician’s trick is revealed to be mere sleight of hand. "I knew you weren’t a cop." 

"You’re smarter than the sheriff, then." 

"So what’s your deal? You working with her?" 

"Yeah, me and her go way back. I’m the one that got her started and showed her the ropes. When she broke into your office you didn’t even know she’d been in there ‘till you found the keys missing, right? She’s good with a pick and doesn’t have to force locks, stealthy and doesn’t leave a trace. I taught her all that." 

The gang boss sounded almost amused. "Is that right?" 

Duo’s voice was smooth, with a hint of eagerness. "So, whadda say? Let us make you some money. If you use us both, it’ll go twice as fast." 

The reply came quickly, as if the leader had already made up his mind. "You’ll go first, then." 

Some signal must have been given, because Hilde and Duo found themselves being pulled to their feet and turned around. As they were led out, they heard one of the gang who had remained behind speaking; they couldn’t make out his words, but they caught the leader’s reply. 

"Of course not. But business comes first, always. Remember that. After you get all the money you can from them - and I expect to be satisfied, so don’t disappoint me - then… well, there are canals around here deep enough to hide a body, are there not?" 


End file.
